Energy · Uruguay

Key Facts

—The project. HIF Global plans a synthetic-fuels plant in Paysandú worth about $5.4bn, the largest private investment in Uruguay’s history.

—The sticking point. The company and the state cannot agree on the electricity price, which makes up about seventy percent of the plant’s running costs.

—The gap. HIF wants power at forty dollars a megawatt-hour; the state utility wants more, and the two sides are still apart.